This research investigated how people’s perceptions of alternative water sources compare with their perceptions of other technologies, and identified significant predictors of comfort with different alternative water sources. We drew on data from four questionnaire survey studies with a total sample of more than 1200 Australian participants. Relative levels of comfort with the alternative water sources was consistent across the four studies: comfort was always highest for drinking rainwater and lowest for drinking recycled water, with comfort with drinking treated stormwater and desalinated water sitting between these two. Although comfort with drinking recycled water was always lowest of the four alternative water sources, participants were significantly more comfortable with drinking recycled water than they were with nuclear energy, or with using genetically modified plants and animals for food. In general, demographic variables were less important predictors of comfort with alternative water sources than were psychological variables; only age and gender emerged as relatively consistent predictors for recycled water, stormwater, and desalinated water, with older participants and males more comfortable with drinking these water sources. Of the psychological variables, participants’ comfort with technology in general, trust in science and trust in government emerged consistently as significant positive predictors of comfort with drinking recycled water, stormwater, and desalinated water.
Atomic scale computer simulation was used to predict the mechanisms and energies associated with the accommodation of aliovalent and isovalent dopants in three host oxides with the corundum structure. Here we consider a much more extensive range of dopant ions than has previously been the case. This enables a rigorous comparison of calculated mechanism energetics. From this we predict that divalent ions are charge compensated by oxygen vacancies and tetravalent ions by cation vacancies over the full range of dopant radii. When defect associations are included in the model these conclusions remain valid. At equilibrium, defects resulting from extrinsic dopant solution dominate intrinsic processes, except for the largest dopant cations. Solution reaction energies increase markedly with increasing dopant radius. The behaviour of cluster binding energies is more complex. 相似文献
Introduction: Patient reported outcomes (PROs) are a critical metric documenting the impact of disease and treatment from the patient's perspective. A variety of generic and disease specific PRO measures (PROMs) are used in chronic kidney disease (CKD) but studies are primarily cross‐sectional. None of the available PROMs are designed for frequent iterative application. Methods: An online PROM for daily use in dialysis and CKD 4/5 patients was developed. The custom website utilised visual analogue scales to capture 6 PROs (general well being (GWB), pain, sleep, breathing, energy, and appetite). Outcomes of interest were uptake, response rates, intermodality variation, and change in PRO corresponding to predefined events. Findings: Forty‐three patients submitted at least once and 34 submitted beyond 30 days. Median follow‐up was 247 days, 64% male, age 62 ± 12 years. In individuals submitting for >30 days, dialysis patients had significantly worse median scores compared to CKD for sleep (47[32–80], 97[76–99], P = 0.003), appetite (66[50–96], 97[88–100], P = 0.008), energy (47[40–89], 84[67–96], P = 0.031), and GWB (63[49–94], 93[71–98], P = 0.026). Patients demonstrated a variety of stable bandwidths of response, deviations from this were associated with specific events e.g., acute admission, vascular procedures, disturbed fluid status, and dialysis start. Discussion: We successfully introduced an online, patient acceptable, iterative PROM that discriminates symptom burden, cross‐sectionally, and longitudinally. Further work will prospectively examine the predictive power of changes in PRO and more rigorously investigate the potential use of these methods to optimise patient care. 相似文献
Background: Tissue sources of pain emanating from degenerative discs remains incompletely understood. Canine intervertebral discs (IVDs) were needle puncture injured, 4-weeks later injected with either phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) or NTG-101, harvested after an additional fourteen weeks and then histologically evaluated for the expression of NGFr, BDNF, TrkB and CALCRL proteins. Quantification was performed using the HALO automated cell-counting scoring platform. Immunohistochemical analysis was also performed on human IVD tissue samples obtained from spinal surgery. Immunohistochemical analysis and quantification of neurotrophins and neuropeptides was performed using an in vivo canine model of degenerative disc disease and human degenerative disc tissue sections. Discs injected with NTG-101 showed significantly lower levels of Nerve Growth Factor receptor (NGFr/TrkA, p = 0.0001), BDNF (p = 0.009), TrkB (p = 0.002) and CALCRL (p = 0.008) relative to PBS injections. Human IVD tissue obtained from spinal surgery due to painful DDD show robust expression of NGFr, BDNF, TrkB and CALCRL proteins. A single intradiscal injection of NTG-101 significantly inhibits the expression of NGFr, BDNF, TrkB and CALCRL proteins in degenerative canine IVDs. These results strongly suggest that NTG-101 inhibits the development of neurotrophins that are strongly associated with painful degenerative disc disease and may have profound effects upon the management of patients living with discogenic pain. 相似文献
The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors characterised by central obesity, atherogenic dyslipidaemia, and changes in the circulating lipidome; the underlying mechanisms that lead to this lipid remodelling have only been partially elucidated. This study used an integrated “omics” approach (untargeted whole serum lipidomics, targeted proteomics, and lipoprotein lipidomics) to study lipoprotein remodelling and HDL composition in subjects with central obesity diagnosed with MetS (vs. controls). Compared with healthy subjects, MetS patients showed higher free fatty acids, diglycerides, phosphatidylcholines, and triglycerides, particularly those enriched in products of de novo lipogenesis. On the other hand, the “lysophosphatidylcholines to phosphatidylcholines” and “cholesteryl ester to free cholesterol” ratios were reduced, pointing to a lower activity of lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) in MetS; LCAT activity (directly measured and predicted by lipidomic ratios) was positively correlated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and negatively correlated with body mass index (BMI) and insulin resistance. Moreover, many phosphatidylcholines and sphingomyelins were significantly lower in the HDL of MetS patients and strongly correlated with BMI and clinical metabolic parameters. These results suggest that MetS is associated with an impairment of phospholipid metabolism in HDL, partially led by LCAT, and associated with obesity and underlying insulin resistance. This study proposes a candidate strategy to use integrated “omics” approaches to gain mechanistic insights into lipoprotein remodelling, thus deepening the knowledge regarding the molecular basis of the association between MetS and atherosclerosis. 相似文献
Foodborne illness caused by Salmonella spp. is a worldwide problem. In the United States Salmonella Enteritidis is the second most commonly isolated serotype from human illness, and is known to be strongly associated with shell eggs and egg containing products. Eggs can become contaminated internally either by penetration through the shell or directly during formation in the reproductive tract. This review begins with a brief account of the physiology of egg production and the various physical and chemical barriers the egg possesses to prevent bacterial contamination. Factors involved in vertical and horizontal transmission of S. Enteritidis are examined, as well as the role of forced molt in colonization of the hen. Pre- and post-harvest mitigation strategies are also discussed. 相似文献
Concern from local residents about possible contamination with metals and PCDD/F (dioxins and furans) from fugitive and stack emissions from the Byker municipal solid waste incinerator in Newcastle upon Tyne led the City Council to initiate a study of the concentration of these pollutants in soils. We report here the results for the metals and arsenic. Soils were sampled at distances up to 2.25 km from the incinerator stack. The intensity of sampling in concentric zones was four times greater in the northeast (down-wind) direction, and twice as great in the northwest and southeast directions, compared to the southwest (up-wind) direction. In total 163 samples were collected and analyzed for total As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn. Concentrations were generally elevated above background levels, but were typical of those found in other urban areas. For As, Cd, Cu, Hg, Pb, and Zn, contamination hotspots were identified. These were spread throughout the sampling area, and there was no evidence of greater concentrations down-wind of the incinerator compared to other directions, nor of any trend in concentration at increasing distance from the incinerator. We concluded that metal contamination resulting from the incinerator could not be detected in an environment with generally elevated concentrations. Potential sources for many of the hotspots of contamination were identified in a survey of historic land use based on maps of the locality dating back to 1856. Detailed investigations of particular areas with serious contamination will now be undertaken by the local authorities using the CLEA (Contaminated Land Exposure Assessment) model. 相似文献
Lattice stabilities for the metastable FCC (Al), BCC (A2) and CPH (A3) allotropes of 43 elements have been evaluated. The results are based on (1) Assessed stable phase data; (2) Phase boundary extrapolations from binary alloy, and elemental pressure-temperature, phase diagrams; (3) A relationship between the entropy of fusion, crystal structure and melting point; (4) Stacking fault energies; (5) Periodic and group trends and (6) First principle electronic energy calculations. Qualitative trends proposed by previous thermochemical evaluations for the transition metals are to a large extent confirmed. However, the evaluated energy differences between the different crystal allotropes are substantially higher and can be closer in magnitude to those predicted by ab-initio electron energy calculations, although particular discrepancies, for example concerning Cr(FCC), still remain. Many of the changes proposed here arise from the reassessment of stable phase data, particularly with respect to recently measured heats of fusion of the high melting point elements. 相似文献